![[Refereed]](http://www.istl.org/graphics/r2.gif){kind=small}
Electronic Access to Agronomy Journals: A Follow-up Study
Brad Brazzeal
Agriculture, Forest Resources & Extension Librarian
Mississippi State University Libraries
Mississippi State, Mississippi
bbrazzeal@library.msstate.edu
Abstract
User studies of faculty, staff, and students in research universities have shown a strong preference and even an expectation for electronic access to journals. In 2007, the author and a colleague examined the electronic availability of 47 agronomy journals at eight libraries that had Association of Research Libraries (ARL) membership and that also served institutions with doctoral programs in agronomy. In late 2013, the author replicated the study to determine the extent to which electronic access to those journals at the same institutions had changed over time. While there was a clear increase in electronic availability, much of the content was still not available online.
Introduction
Agronomy is "that branch of agriculture devoted to the theory, practice, and scientific management of soil, land, and field-crop production" (Lewis 2002). As a biological science, peer-reviewed journals play a crucial role in disseminating agronomy research (Harley et al. 2010), and researchers have come to rely on immediate access to journals and other information sources. In an examination of information-seeking behavior studies, Connaway, Dickey, and Radford concluded that "[i]nformation-seekers ... expect seamless access to resources such as full text e-journals, online foreign-language materials, e-books, a variety of electronic publishers' platforms, and virtual reference desk services" (2011, p. 187). Academic libraries have responded to these expectations by converting journal subscriptions from print to electronic when feasible, but some journal subscriptions continue in print format for various reasons (Long & Schonfield 2014; Sullenger 2011).
This study examines two snapshots of electronic availability of 47 agronomy journals at eight Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members with doctoral programs in agronomy. The first snapshot was taken in 2007 (Brazzeal & Powers 2007), with a follow-up in 2013. The ARL is composed of "research libraries distinguished by the breadth and quality of their collections and services" (ARL 2013). However, no library has the funds to subscribe to every journal, and LibQual surveys at ARL institutions have revealed dissatisfaction with the level of journal access provided by the libraries (Rutner & Self 2013).
One way that libraries provide online access to journals is by subscribing to full-text aggregator databases. Aggregators can be cost-effective, but access to current content is often limited by embargoes. Even without embargoes, the full text of most recent issues may not be available immediately upon publication, and aggregators may miss certain issues altogether. Furthermore, future access to the full-text of a given journal is not guaranteed, since it is dependent upon contracts between the publisher and the database provider (Thohira et al. 2010).
Like the original study conducted in 2007, this present study seeks to answer the following questions. First, to what extent are the selected research libraries providing online access to agronomy journals? Also, how is this access provided: directly from publishers, through aggregator databases, through other sources, or a combination of the above? Additionally, the present study documents how this access has changed over time.
Methods
This follow-up study examined the same journals and libraries as the original study in 2007. Titles included were all 47 journals in the agronomy category of the 2005 Journal Citation Reports. There were three criteria for libraries to include in the study: ARL membership, serving an institution offering a PhD program in agronomy, and unauthenticated access to the e-journals list. The latter was necessary to ensure that the author could collect the needed data as an unaffiliated user.
Libraries at the following institutions met the criteria: Cornell University, Louisiana State University, Oklahoma State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas Tech University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, and University of Wisconsin. Given the need for unauthenticated access to the e-journals list, this was a convenience sample rather than a random sample (Corsini 1999).
The e-journals list for each library was searched, and screen-shots of the e-journal record (if any) were made. Holdings information was then entered into an Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Due to complications that arise from journal splits and other situations, only the current title was used in the studies. The sole exception was a journal that underwent a title change that was noted in the 2005 Journal Citation Reports.
Results
Journals with No Electronic Access
The 12 journals listed below were not available in electronic format at any of the eight institutions in 2007. The majority of these are publications of societies and institutes, with exceptions being Advances in Agronomy, Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, and International Sugar Journal.
- Advances in Agronomy
- Allelopathy Journal
- American Journal of Potato Research
- Biological Agriculture & Horticulture
- Cereal Research Communications
- International Sugar Journal
- Journal of the American Pomological Society
- Maydica
- Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi-Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry
- Seed Science & Technology
- Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida Proceedings
- Tropical Grasslands
In the 2013 follow-up study, only International Sugar Journal, Seed Science & Technology, and Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida Proceedings had no type of electronic access at any of the institutions examined.
Of the titles with access in 2013 but not in 2007, two were available only through aggregator databases. Allelopathy Journal was available in Academic Search Complete. Coverage in that database was for 2009 to the present, and four institutions had access to this database. The Journal of the American Pomological Society was available in the ProQuest Research Library. Coverage in that database was from 2001-2010, and three institutions had access to this database. This is an example of a database no longer adding content for a journal, rather than an embargo. A similar situation can occur when an institution stops an electronic subscription to a journal directly from the publisher. To describe these situations, the author will use the term "limited" access below.
Access to Current Issues
Table 1 shows the number of journals to which institutions had access to the current issues versus access to journals that were embargoed or limited access. All institutions showed an increase in the total number of journals with some sort of electronic access (current or embargoed/limited). On average, current access increased from 26.5 journals in 2007 to 36.1 in 2013, while embargoed/limited access decreased slightly from 3.0 to 2.6. Thus, the average number of total journals with electronic access was 29.5 in 2007 and 38.7 in 2013.
Table 1. Current access vs. embargoed/limited access
| Institution | Current Access 2007 | Current Access 2013 | Embargoed/ Limited* 2007 | Embargoed/ Limited* 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institution 1 | 33 |
36 |
0 |
3 |
Institution 2 |
32 |
40 |
1 |
0 |
Institution 3 |
31 |
39 |
2 |
1 |
Institution 4 |
29 |
36 |
3 |
5 |
Institution 5 |
29 |
38 |
2 |
1 |
Institution 6 |
21 |
33 |
6 |
2 |
Institution 7 |
22 |
35 |
4 |
4 |
Institution 8 |
15 |
32 |
6 |
5 |
Average |
26.5 |
36.1 |
3.0 |
2.6 |
* See section above for definition and example of "limited" access, as used in this study.
Aggregator Dependence
Full-text aggregator databases can provide affordable access to a large number of journals, but as mentioned above, this comes with caveats (Thohira et al. 2010). Table 2 lists the number of titles for which all or partial access to a journal was dependent upon a full-text aggregator database (e.g. Academic Search Complete). Columns two and three show the number of titles in 2007 and 2013 to which institutions only had electronic availability through aggregators, while columns four and five show the number of titles in 2007 and 2013 that had access complemented by aggregators. An example of the latter is when an institution has access to recent years through the publisher and to backfiles only through an aggregator. It should be noted that while embargoes often accompany aggregator access, this is by no means always the case.
Table 2. Aggregator dependence
| Institution | Aggregator Only Access in 2007 | Aggregator Only Access in 2013 | Access Complemented by Aggregators in 2007 | Access Complemented by Aggregators 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Institution 1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Institution 2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
Institution 3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Institution 4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
Institution 5 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Institution 6 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
Institution 7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Institution 8 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
Average |
1.5 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
Access to All Issues
According to the 2013 Journal Citation Reports, agronomy journals have a citation half-life of 8.7, indicating that a significant amount of older journal articles are being cited (Thomson Reuters 2013). However, if a library has online access to only a few years of a core journal that has been published for many years, then researchers are still inconvenienced in a way that may lead them to do without the article (Connaway et al. 2011). Tables 3 to 6 show access to the complete run of the journals studied that were published by Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley-Blackwell. Between 2007 and 2013, Springer acquired two of the journals, and Taylor & Francis acquired three. Thus, these four publishers accounted for 30 of the 47 journals in 2013. For the purpose of these illustrations, all journals are listed in a table with their 2013 publisher. Data for the remaining 17 journals are provided in Table 7.
Table 3 shows access to journals published by Elsevier. No institution had access to all of Advances in Agronomy, but it should be noted that it is published once a year and is more like a book series. It did however meet the requirements to be included in the Journal Citation Reports. The other journal for which no institution had full access was the European Journal of Agronomy. Institutions only showed access to that title back to volume five, which was published in 1996. Another anomaly worth noting is that one institution had a gap for the years 1995 to 1997 for its Elsevier titles.
Table 3. Access to Elsevier Titles
| Journal Title and Year of First Publication | Institutions with Access to All in 2007 | Institutions with Access to All in 2013 |
|---|---|---|
Advances in Agronomy (1949) |
0 |
0 |
Agricultural & Forest Meteorology (1984) |
4 |
7 |
Agricultural Water Management (1976) |
4 |
7 |
Crop Protection (1982) |
4 |
7 |
European Journal of Agronomy (1992) |
0 |
0 |
Field Crops Research (1978) |
4 |
7 |
Industrial Crops & Products (1992) |
2 |
6 |
Postharvest Biology & Technology (1991) |
4 |
7 |
In 2007, the earliest access to Springer titles was 1996. By 2013, access to Springer backfiles greatly increased, as shown in Table 4. The majority of institutions provided access to all issues of Springer journals except for Agronomy for Sustainable Development, which Springer acquired in the time between the studies.
Table 4. Access to Springer titles
| Journal Title and Year of First Publication | Institutions with Access to All in 2007 | Institutions with Access to All in 2013 |
|---|---|---|
Agroforestry Systems (1982) |
0 |
6 |
Agronomie (1981) (changed to Agronomy for Sustainable Development in 2005*) |
0 |
1 |
American Journal of Potato Research (1998*) |
0 |
8 |
Euphytica (1952) |
0 |
6 |
European Journal of Plant Pathology (1994) |
0 |
6 |
Genetic Resources & Crop Evolution (1992) |
0 |
6 |
Molecular Breeding (1995) |
0 |
6 |
Plant & Soil (1948) |
0 |
6 |
Theoretical & Applied Genetics (1968) |
0 |
6 |
* Titles moved to Springer between the two studies.
As shown in Table 5, no institution had access to all issues of the Taylor & Francis journals in 2007, and few institutions had access to all issues of any of the journals in 2013. Only Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica B and Communications in Soil Science & Plant Analysis were published by Taylor & Francis in 2007.
Table 5. Access to Taylor & Francis titles
| Journal Title and Year of First Publication | Institutions with Access to All in 2007 | Institutions with Access to All in 2013 |
|---|---|---|
Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica B (1992) |
0 |
0 |
Biological Agriculture & Horticulture (1982) |
0 |
0 |
Communications in Soil Science & Plant Analysis (1970) |
0 |
2 |
New Zealand Journal of Crop & Horticultural Science (1989) |
0 |
2 |
Soil Science & Plant Nutrition (1961) |
0 |
4 |
Between 2007 and 2013, the Wiley publishing company acquired Blackwell publishing. For titles now owned by Wiley-Blackwell, access to all issues was mixed in 2007, and there was a clear increase in 2013. For Grass & Forage Science, Plant Pathology, and Weed Research, one institution depended on the Environment Complete database for access to older issues. Similarly, all seven of the institutions with access to all of the Journal of Agronomy & Crop Science relied on various EBSCO databases for access to older issues.
Table 6. Access to Wiley-Blackwell titles
| Journal Title and Year of First Publication | Institutions with Access to All in 2007 | Institutions with Access to All in 2013 |
|---|---|---|
Grass & Forage Science (1979) |
1 |
5* |
Irrigation & Drainage (2001) |
5 |
8 |
Journal of Agronomy & Crop Science (1986) |
2 |
7** |
Journal of Plant Nutrition & Soil Science (1999) |
5 |
7 |
Pest Management Science (2000) |
5 |
8 |
Plant Breeding (1986) |
1 |
3 |
Plant Pathology (1952) |
1 |
4* |
Weed Research (1961) |
0 |
6* |
* One institution depended upon Environment Complete for access to issues before 1995 or 1996.
** Access for 1986-1996 only through EBSCO aggregators at the 7 institutions.
Table 7 shows the access to the 17 journals not published by Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, or Wiley-Blackwell. In 2007, none of the institutions had access to all of the issues, and in 2013, there were still seven journals without complete access at any of the institutions.
The journals Breeding Science, Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi, and Plant Production Science were all open access through J-STAGE (Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic), but the link resolvers at some institutions showed access through DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), which did not list some years for those titles. Similarly, all issues of Tropical Grasslands are now available open access, but the e-journals list at all but one institution showed no electronic access to this journal.
All institutions had complete access to the journals Weed Science and Weed Technology, both of which are publications of the Weed Science Society of America. In all cases, current access to those titles was through BioOne, and backfiles were available through JSTOR.
Table 7. Access to Other Titles
| Journal Title and Year of First Publication | Institutions with Access to All in 2007 | Institutions with Access to All in 2013 |
|---|---|---|
Agronomy Journal (1949) |
0 |
4 |
Allelopathy Journal (1994) |
0 |
0 |
Breeding Science (1999) |
0 |
5 |
Canadian Journal of Plant Science (1957) |
0 |
5 |
Cereal Research Communications (1973) |
0 |
0 |
Crop Science (1961) |
0 |
4 |
Experimental Agriculture (1965) |
0 |
1 |
International Sugar Journal (1899) |
0 |
0 |
Journal of the American Pomological Society (2000) |
0 |
0 |
Maydica (1956) |
0 |
0 |
Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi-Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry (1924) (ceased publication in 2004) |
0 |
6 |
Plant Production Science (1998) |
0 |
7 |
Seed Science & Technology (1973) |
0 |
0 |
Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida Proceedings (1956) (ceased publication in 2006) |
0 |
0 |
Tropical Grasslands (1967) (ceased publication in 2010) |
0 |
1 |
Weed Science (1968) |
0 |
8 |
Weed Technology (1987) |
0 |
8 |
Conclusion
This study showed the changes in electronic access to 47 agronomy journals at eight ARL libraries at institutions with doctoral programs in agronomy. Access to e-journal content increased between 2007 and 2013, but online access is far from complete. Aggregators continue to be an important and even essential source for content of certain journals, even though aggregators may have missing issues or delays in getting the full text.
These two studies did not examine the print holdings of the journals. Institutions without electronic access to all or part of a given journal may be able to provide an electronic copy of articles from the journal, although that would not be the immediate access that patrons have come to expect. This could be an area of future research. A limitation of the original study and the follow-up is that the authors depended upon the accuracy of the information provided on the websites of the libraries included in the study.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Justin Kani, David Nolen, two anonymous referees, and the Refereed Articles Editor for their valuable comments on and assistance with drafts of this article.
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